By
Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and the media have expressed their dismay over the exclusion of nutrition and other related maternal, neonatal and child health (MNCH) components in the Bauchi state 2020 budget that was signed into law last December.
The coalition of the CSOs and media under the aegis of Network against Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM Network) expressed their concern on what the exclusion could translate into with regards to the treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in Bauchi state.
Speaking to the media, representatives of the coalition, after a routine assessment visit to a Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) site in Bununu, Tafawa Balewa local government of Bauchi state, representative of the executive director of Aid Connect for Development, Mrs Abigail Hardo said the news of the exclusion of nutrition budget is the 2020 was a shock to the coalition and if not corrected , would further deteriorate the modest gains achieved in overcoming the menace of SAM in under five children of Bauchi state.
“We can’t believe that such an important component of primary healthcare services has been relegated to the point of not being captured in the Bauchi state 2020 budget.
“With the zeal and commitment so far demonstrated by Governor Bala Mohammed in identifying primary healthcare delivery services as a priority area of the current administration, the exclusion of nutrition budget would definitely cast doubts in the minds of so many stakeholders in the health sector, regarding the sincerity of the administration’s resolve to tackling MNCH challenges in the Bauchi state.”
Mrs. Hardo further said that the coalition would monitor the sad development and hammer on it until it is corrected, as according to her, “the governor may not have been aware that an all important component in primary healthcare like Nutrition, MNCH week activities, child birth spacing etc have all been excluded in 2020 health budget.
“We will renew our efforts in advocating for the inclusions of this critical components into the Bauchi state 2020 budget and will keep the public abreast on the development”, Mrs.Hardo stated.
